Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time


Becky Smethurst - 2020
    In the 14 billion years since, scientists have pointed their telescopes upward, peering outward in space and backward in time, developing and refining theories to explain the weird and wonderful phenomena they observed.Through these observations, we now understand concepts like the size of the universe (still expanding), the distance to the next-nearest star from earth (Alpha Centauri, 26 trillion miles) and what drives the formation of elements (nuclear fusion), planets and galaxies (gravity), and black holes (gravitational collapse). But are these cosmological questions definitively answered or is there more to discover?Oxford University astrophysicist and popular YouTube personality Dr. Becky Smethurst presents everything you need to know about the universe in 10 accessible and engaging lessons.In Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time, she guides you through fundamental questions, both answered and unanswered, posed by space scientists. Why does gravity matter? How do we know the big bang happened? What is dark matter? Do aliens exist? Why is the sky dark at night? If you have ever looked up at night and wondered how it all works, you will find answers - and many more questions - in this pocket-sized tour of the universe!

Something Like Love


Catherine Dunne - 2006
    Just like that: no words of regret, no compromise, no note - only a simple 'I don't love you anymore'. It has taken Rose all this time to get her life together again: she's brought up her three children, Lisa, Brian and Damien single-handedly, and not without difficulty for never again does she want to be completely broke, or to have to revisit that night in hospital with Damien hovering between life and death. To think about it just makes her shudder.Now Rose is concentrating on her business, the 'Bonne Bouche' bakery, and all the clients she's won, all the friends she's made. Her accounts are in order, the business is blooming. Life really doesn't seem too bad. Until Ben returns, again without warning, and it is soon clear that he expects to infiltrate Rose's carefully created world in the most unwelcome of ways.A stunning sequel to "In the Beginning," Catherine Dunne's first novel, "Something Like Love" is an astonishing portrait of a marriage, and of how the ties that bind are sometimes there forever.Praise for Catherine Dunne:'The Walled Garden is that great rarity: a flawless novel'"Daily Express"'A hugely gratifying book; something to feed the spirit again and again'"Irish Independent "

Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation


Bill Nye - 2014
    In this book, he expands the points he has made, and claims that this debate is not so much about religion versus science, as about the nature of science itself. With infectious enthusiasm, he reveals the mechanics of evolutionary theory, explains how it is rooted in the testable and verifiable scientific method, and why it is therefore a sound explanation of our beginning. He argues passionately that to continue to assert otherwise, to continue to insist that creationism has a place in the science classroom is harmful not only to our children, but to the future of the greater world as well.

Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages, And The Infinite Weirdness Of Programmable Atoms


Wil McCarthy - 2003
    But it's coming, and when it does, it will change our lives as much as any invention ever has. Imagine being able to program matter itself-to change it, with the click of a cursor, from hard to soft, from paper to stone, from fluorescent to super-reflective to invisible. Supported by organizations ranging from Levi Strauss and IBM to the Defense Department, solid-state physicists in renowned laboratories are working to make it a reality. In this dazzling investigation, Wil McCarthy visits the laboratories and talks with the researchers who are developing this extraordinary technology, describes how they are learning to control it, and tells us where all this will lead. The possibilities are truly astonishing.